The Sanremo Song Festival is a cornerstone of Italian culture, annually featuring the best of Italian music. It was the contest that inspired Eurovision, and just like Eurovision it has seen various format changes over the years.
Italian broadcaster RAI have announced that there will be changes to the 2019 contest. Recently we have seen the division between the ‘big’ and ‘nuove proposte’ sections of the show, where the big category participants are established artists and the nuove proposte features up and coming artists.
This will no longer be the case, with all the artists involved to be featured on an even playing field. What does this mean? In December 2018, Sanremo Giovani (Young Sanremo) will be held over a week featuring young performers. In this week, the focus will be on these young artists, their stories and of course their songs. From here, two of these artists will win two places in Sanremo to be held in February 2019. It is expected that 24 artists will participate in Sanremo Giovani.
The nation is yet to confirm their participation at Eurovision, however upon their participation it is likely that Sanremo will once again be the format the nation uses to select their Eurovision act. Traditionally, the winner of the contest has first right to accept or decline the opportunity, and on some occasions the broadcaster has selected the act prior to the Sanremo final.
Which artists do you want to see at Sanremo next year?